Should value-added school effects models include student- and school-level covariates? Evidence from Australian population assessment data

Abstract

There is an enduring issue on whether student- and school-level covariates should be included in value-added school effects models, in addition to prior achievement. Proponents argue that the addition of covariates allows fairer comparisons of schools, whereas opponents argue that it excuses poorly performing schools and obscures policy-relevant school differences. School-level covariates are problematic statistically, but it has been argued that mean school prior achievement should be included in school effects analyses to reduce error. This article reports on school effects analyses of Australia-wide data of approximately 1.5 million students in both primary and secondary schools that took..